PIA crew questioned upon return from London after plane search debacle

Pakistan's Anti-Narcotic Force (ANF) has detained eleven crew members of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) at the Jinnah International Airport after they landed in Karachi from London on Thursday for questioning about a 'quantity of heroin' allegedly found in their flight.

The ANF questioned the crew members briefly before they were allowed to exit the airport.

The crew members of the PIA flight, who were stopped by UK authorities after discovery of heroin from the plane, returned to the country after three days.

Citing sources, Dawn reported that an inquiry has been launched into the matter of the heroin found on the flight and CCTV footage from the flight is being looked to find clues as to how the heroin was brought on board.

Civil aviation and security authorities in London have claimed that Border Force (BF) officers had found a "quantity of heroin" on board a PIA flight that landed at Heathrow Airport on Monday.

They said National Crime Agency (NCA) officials were investigating the case after seizure of narcotics from the plane and that no arrests were made. They said that the investigation is still ongoing, reports the Dawn.

The daily also quoted PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar as saying that British authorities had "thoroughly searched" and detained the flight crew after they landed at the Heathrow Airport.

Flight 785 from Islamabad to London had landed at 2:50 p.m. on Monday. Upon landing, as passengers disembarked, the flight crew and aircraft were searched by the authorities, the spokesperson said.

Fourteen crew members were released after being detained for nearly two hours by British authorities, Tajwar said, adding that no information was given at that time about why the crew was detained.